Bachmann - 82657 - Engine, Steam, 2-6-6-2 Mallet - Wheeling & Lake Erie - 8007

Model Information: First released in 2005 and released as the USRA Mallet. Bachmann later re-used the same mechanism for a C&O H-4 model which was released in 2010 with a Vanderbilt VC12 tender. The USRA Mallets come with Rapido coupler on the tender and a dummy knuckle coupler in the front. The H-4's come with EZ-Mate couplers.

Features include:

• DCC ready (manufacturer's view...)
• 5 pole, skew-wound motor
• powered by all drivers
• amber LED headlight
• detailed cab interior
• separate detail parts, including bell, whistle, pop valves, and hand rails
• finescale driver spokes

DCC Information: The 2005 USRA Mallet is DCC-Friendly. No PCB nor plug, but some space reserved for a decoder and wires available in the vicinity.
The 2010 H-4 comes with DCC factory installed in the tender.

Prototype History: The USRA 2-6-6-2 locomotive was a Mallet, or compound articulated type, having both low-pressure and high-pressure cylinders. The smaller high-pressure cylinders powered the rear set of driving wheels, and the larger low-pressure cylinders powered the forward set of driving wheels. The USRA 2-6-6-2 articulated locomotives were direct developments of the Chesapeake & Ohio class H-2 and H-4 series. This type of locomotive was sometimes referred to as a Mallet Mogul.
150 H-4s were built at Schenectady and Richmond between 1912 and 1918 for the C&O. Individual H-4 batches had adhesion weights ranging from 358,000 to 364,900 lb.
During 1919 and 1920 the C&O received batches of its Class H-5's and Class H-6's becoming the last new compounds to arrive on the railroad for nearly 30 years. The locomotives were numbered 1520-1539 (H-5) and 1475-1519 (H-6).

From Wikipedia
Read more on american-rails.com about the C&O 2-6-6-2's

Road Name History: The Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway (reporting mark WLE) was a Class I railroad mostly within the U.S. state of Ohio. It was leased to the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate Road) in 1949, and merged into the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1988. A new regional railroad reused the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway name in 1990 when it acquired most of the former W&LE from the N&W.

At the end of 1944, W&LE operated 507 miles of road and 1003 miles of track; that year it reported 2371 million net ton-miles of revenue freight and 0.002 million passenger-miles.

The current Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway (reporting mark WE) is a Class II regional railroad that provides freight service, mainly in the U.S. state of Ohio. It took its name from the former Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway, most of which it bought from the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1990.

Read more on Wikipedia.

Brand/Importer Information: Bachmann Industries (Bachmann Brothers, Inc.) is a Bermuda registered Chinese owned company, globally headquartered in Hong Kong; specializing in model railroading.

Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the home of its North American headquarters, Bachmann is today part of the Kader group, who model products are made at a Chinese Government joint-venture plant in Dongguan, China. Bachmann's brand is the largest seller, in terms of volume, of model trains in the world. Bachmann primarily specializes in entry level train sets, and premium offerings in many scales. The Spectrum line is the high quality, model railroad product line, offered in N, HO, Large Scale, On30, and Williams O gauge all aimed for the hobbyist market. Bachmann is the producer of the famous railroad village product line known as "Plasticville." The turnover for Bachmann model trains for the year ended 31 December 2006 was approximately $46.87 million, a slight increase of 3.36% as compared to 2005.